Torturing Daniel
by StevenTLawson
Summary: An angst filled story about Danny's suffering. Danny/Desiree. Not sure where in the timeline this takes place.
1. Chapter 1

Like blood and sharks, the ghosts could smell the free-flowing ectoplasm in the Ghost Zone for miles. Ember smirked as she floated on a rock. _"This just might be a new record for how quick Baby Pop kicked anyone's butt," _she thought to herself as she flew off to see which sucker got on Phantom's bad side. "Don't normally smell this much ectoplasm after a fight with him, he must have been _pissed_," she said as she approached the infamous Fenton Portal opening.

Ember saw her boyfriend, Skulker, slowly floating while ectoplasm trailed behind him. "Wow babe, what did Baby Pop do to you, you left like five minutes ago," she teased. She grew uneasy when Skulker looked at her with concern in his eyes.

"Get, get someone," Skulker said softly as he lifted the mangled form of Danny Phantom. His stomach had been ripped opened and was missing organs. Red blood mixing with green ectoplasm pooling in the cavity, his chest shakily rising and falling.

"What did you do to him?" Ember yelled in confusion, she knew Skulker wanted to skin the kid and that was _mostly_ banter, but he'd never been this brutal before.

"I didn't, his parents did," Skulker admitted.

* * *

Vlad was relaxing in his lounge, a fire crackling as he sipped an aged cognac while he read through the latest R&D reports. He frowned when he heard one of his maids shriek in fright. "Ugh, if it's that dunderhead Skulker, I'm going to shove him in a jar and," he threatened as he closed the folder.

Instead of the ghostly hunter, the dead rock star Ember flew right up to him and grabbed his hand. "Help, Phantom, come quick," she said as she began to tug on his expensive suit.

Normally he'd blast any ghost who got overly handsy with him, but something about the concern in Ember's tone told him this might actually be serious. When he passed through his own portal and chased after Ember. Finally finding Ember and her boyfriend Skulker on one of the many floating rocks in the ghost zone. "Now what is so dire that you had to, to," Vlad trailed off as he saw the state that Daniel was in.

"We don't know what to do," Ember whined.

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

Danny's eyes flickered open, "Ugh, what, no mom, please, stop," he slowly began to panic as he recalled his last memories.

"His blood pressure is spiking, he'll go into cardiac arrest, I need some," a small voice said.

"Nonsense, Desiree, I wish Daniel would calm down," Vlad said.

"_Wait, Vlad, what?" _Danny thought through the fog in his mind.

"So you have wished it, so it shall be," Desiree said.

A feeling of calm washed over Danny as his vision cleared up. The teenager looked around the room and saw that he was no longer trapped in his parent's basement lab, _"strapped to a metal slab while his parents."_

*BeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeep*

"I thought you made him calm," Ember yelled at the wishing ghost.

"I did, my powers are not absolute, especially when it comes to free will," Desiree shouted back. "Whatever he suffered must have been traumatic to already burn through the calm I instilled in him."

"Well I wish he was calm again," Vlad roared over the two bickering women.

"So you have wished it, so it shall be," Desiree said. "And do not yell at me. You requested my help, not the other way around."

Danny's heartbeat slowed down again as the wish took hold. "Daniel," Vlad said calmly. "Daniel, you're safe," he added as he rested his hand on the teen's arm.

"Where, I'm not, they," Danny stammered as he tried to sit up. When he moved his abdomen, sharp pain shot through his body.

"Don't try to move Little Badger, you are," Vlad said as he moved the blanket covering Danny's stomach. Revealing a gaping hole in his gut where tubes were pushed into his body. Expensive medical equipment encircled the bed he lay in, the sounds of pumping and whirring as they acted as artificial organs for his lost body parts.

Tears streamed down his cheeks as he recalled how his parents made him suffer. The sound of Danny's wails began filling the room. "They tried to, to," he sobbed as everyone watched the strongest kid they knew breakdown.

The others in the room patiently waited for Daniel to cry himself to sleep. Desiree had been wished to calm Daniel should he wake up and panic again, so she floated in the room watching his sleeping form. Vlad stepped out into the hallway with Ember who had brought Desiree at Vlad's request, hoping the wishing ghost could just heal up the injured half-ghost.

"I would if I could, Plasmius, but this damage," Desiree said as she tried not to look at Danny's mangled form. Even the harshest punishment she was witness to in her time alive in the much more barbaric age she had been born into, did not compare to the shear surgical precision of carnage that the young teen had suffered. "Was done surgically, with I don't know what, but I am unable to fix this amount of damage," she admitted.

Growling Vlad had surgeons flown in to work on the dying teen, all under threat of ruin should they even think about telling anyone what they see here. They hooked up Danny to ventilators, tubes to simulate his missing organs. A drip of raw ectoplasm was slowly feeding into a line of O- to substitute his missing blood.

After 35 hours of straight surgery where the doctors worked being wished back to energy and sharpening their wits, they were able to stabilize Danny. Now it was just a waiting game for him to begin regenerating on his own, the slow growth of his skin showed positive signs of his physical recovery.

* * *

Vlad stood firmly while he aimed a harsh glare at Ember. "What has Skulker been able to find out," he demanded.

Ember floated nervously. "Well Skulker couldn't get in on his own, so he had to pull some favors, so you owe a few ghosts now," she told him.

"Fine, fine, I need to know what's been going on in that house," Vlad waved her off.

"Well with some help, he was able to get in and," Ember shivered. "It was awful, they'd been dissecting," she started to say.

"Vivisect, Daniel is still alive," he cut her off.

"Yeah, but how much longer is up for debate," she shot at him.

Vlad snarled in anger at her crass remark. "Don't test me, Daniel will survive this," he stated.

"Fine, fine, I'm sorry that was in poor taste," Ember apologized. "But they seemed to have caught him a few days ago and," she passed a pda with the information. "Technus is demanding a therapist for what he downloaded into himself."

"After Daniel receives the care he needs," Vlad said dismissively. "So why did his disappearance go unnoticed, if they caught Phantom how did nobody report Fenton was gone?"

"His sister," Ember explained. "She's off to college remember," she poked him in the chest. He was the one who gave her a very generous scholarship so she could attend a premier school that fit her high academic standards and goals, far away from Amity. Where she wouldn't be as able to arrive and help Daniel in his fights to stop Vlad's schemes.

"Right," Vlad nodded, going on his third day with no sleep. "But his two sidekicks," he said as his face turned green as he read through the meticulous notes that Jack was capable of producing.

"Yeah Goth Twerp and Geek Nerd," Ember continued. "That was," she trailed off.

"Well…" Vlad said with irritation.

"With how we've been quiet on our end, they haven't had to come out to help Baby Pop," Ember shrugged. "So I ended up tracking them down to a broom closet, being teenagers," Ember blushed at how she ended up floating in on them.

"Hormones," Vlad rolled his eyes. "But there's no way that a peaceful time and the two bumping uglies is enough for them to have forgotten their friend."

"You'd have to talk to them," Ember said. "I was pretty young when I died, but I still remember school, seems odd that no one at the grand old public education system wouldn't have noticed his disappearance."

"Yes, while the local schools are abysmal," Vlad concurred. "They still would have had to call about his absences," he paused. _"Unless,"_ Vlad thought. "Dammit Maddie," he growled and punched a wall next to him.

"What?" Ember asked in confusion.

"They didn't even notice Danny was gone because they got sucked into their work, again" he stomped around like an angry child. "It's just like when I had my accident in college, they didn't come see me once," he slammed his hand into the wall, cracking the darkened mahogany.

"So, that means?" Ember asked again not following along.

"It means that Daniel has been the subject of neglect likely his entire life," Vlad said as he pulled out his phone and hit a number on speed dial. After a few minutes the ringing stopped, and the line connected. "Yes, I need the entire team, drop any clients you have, settle whatever cases you have pending, I need your firm to observe whatever family law possible, especially regarding custody, and I don't care how obscure it is either." He ended the call and hit another number. "Yes, Agent Devirou, Vlad Masters, I need the FBI to do a discrete investigation into two people, Maddie and Jack Fenton, yes I know that the FBI already has a file on them, start from scratch, from when Jasmine Fenton was born," he finished his call.

"Wow you even have the feds on speed dial," Ember whistled in amazement.

"Yes, one of the benefits of being a billionaire," Vlad said as he loosened his tie. "I will not be making a bad decision to leave Daniel in Desiree's care for the night, will I?" he asked.

Ember shook her head. "We may not be his friends, but aside from a few of us, we don't really want to kill Baby Pop," Ember shrugged. "Desiree actually kind of has a thing for him," Ember whispered.

Vlad must have been more tired than he thought because that actually sounded interesting to him. "Really?" he questioned.

Ember nodded. "Yeah, he's one of the few guys she's met over her like five thousand years that hasn't used her powers for personal gain or to take advantage of her or others. So she's got a bit of a crush on him," Ember explained as she floated alongside Vlad who was shuffling towards his bedroom.

"Utterly fascinating," Vlad yawned. "And if I wasn't so tired and the Little Badger wasn't so," he shuddered as he pictured the state Daniel was in. "I would love nothing more than to tease him senselessly about that." Vlad departed to his bedroom where he quickly fell into a deep sleep as his mind tried to process everything that had been going on the last few days.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **This is a bit more brutal than the other story. But I wrote this up a few days ago and felt like dropping it now.


	2. Chapter 2

Vlad woke up under his expensive, Chinese imported silk sheets. He stretched the aches out as he turned and stepped onto his heated floor. After going through his normal morning routine, he quickly dressed and made his way down the hall to the room Daniel was recovering in. He stepped in and began surveying the scene. "I take it that as he is still breathing and there were no complications in the night."

Desiree huffed and floated back away from Daniel's side. "No Vlad," she flipped her long hair back. "The young phantom has been strong; he has regenerated most of his organs by now. At his rate of regrowth he should be awake in a few hours," Desiree said wistfully as she floated by Daniel's bedside

"Very well then," Vlad said as he moved around the check the various monitoring equipment. A mischievous idea popped into his head, something he would normally ignore and pass off as childish whimsy, but for some reason he wanted to see where it would go. "Desiree, I heard an interesting rumor from Ember last night. I wanted so see if there was any merit to it."

Desiree raised an eyebrow. "You don't strike me as the type to listen to fanciful tales Vlad," she said nervously as she had an idea of what was supposed to have remained as girl talk, became gossip among the other ghosts. "But whatever it is, you have to remember that Ember is a liar and tells mean jokes, also she cheats at cards and smells funny," she began trying to distract Vlad away from his line of questioning.

"Mmm," Vlad smirked. "Well then I guess I was wrong for listening to such a young ghost," he said as he began walking towards the door. Desiree sighed in relief as Vlad apparently bought her masterful deceit, which as a billionaire could easily afford. "Oh but Desiree," he called out as he snapped his fingers in remembrance. "One last wish to help Daniel before I go."

"And that would be what Vlad," Desiree asked.

"I wish that when Daniel awakens, you would tell him how you truly feel about him," Vlad spat out quickly as he ducked out of the room.

"So you have wished it, so it shall be," Desiree said. "I'm going to kill you Vlad Masters," she screamed at him throwing a side table at the door. Danny groaned in his sleep at the outburst. "Oh no, shh shh shh shh, sleep my love," Desiree whispered in the young halfa's ear. "You need your rest," she levitated a blanket over him, all the while gently stroking his hair.

Vlad chuckled as he sprinted down the hall of his own home before slowing as he turned a corner. "Jebson," Vlad called out getting his drivers attention. "Prepare the limousine, we are going into town to collect some very important people for a business meeting, be ready in one hour."

* * *

"Man another boring Monday," Tucker whined as he walked down the sidewalk with Sam. "No ghosts to fight over the weekend either, it's been dead, pardon the pun."

Sam shrugged. "Ehh, I don't think it's that big a deal, maybe it's like a ghost holiday weekend or something. Besides, that gave us a little more time to, you know."

"Oh ho, don't I know it," Tucker waggled his eyebrows. "Hey, if it's quiet again at lunch, you wanna sneak off and do a little-"

A sleek black limousine cut the couple off as they crossed an intersection, the window quickly rolled down. "You two, get in, now," Vlad ordered.

"Oh yeah and why should we," Sam shot back.

"Get in or I make you get in," Vlad's eyes flashing violet. "I assure you, my patience is currently at an end and I have yet to start my day, do not make it worse for yourselves," he threatened.

Sam rolled her eyes and opened the door, stepping into the luxurious vehicle with Tucker nervously following her. "Jebson, drive around the block while I ask these two "upstanding" citizens some questions."

"So what do you want Vlad," Sam asked as she crossed her legs and glared at her friend's nemesis.

"I don't want to waste time today, so I will ask you bluntly," Vlad said as he leaned forward and folded his hands together. "Where has Daniel been the last few days?"

"Why do you want to know, got some new evil plan cooked up to torment him."

"No, I just would like to know how far out of the loop you two children have been," Vlad smirked.

"We're not kids Vlad," Tucker shouted. "We've beaten you plenty of times."

"No, Daniel has thwarted me, you two have at best assisted him, and that's me being very generous as neither of you have ever or will ever land a blow on me," Vlad darkly said as his eyes began to glow. "So I will ask you again, where has Daniel been the last few days?"

Sam rolled her eyes, unphased by the threat. "He didn't come to school on Thursday, figured he just got sick since he hasn't said anything to us."

Vlad grit his teeth in anger but kept his lips pursed to not show it. "And that's it, you think your friend is sick and don't visit him for days, even on the weekend."

"Hey, we don't have to always do everything together and we've got our own things going on too you know," Tucker counter.

"Oh I am well aware of the "things"," he air-quoted. "That you two get up to."

Sam and Tucker blushed furiously, and the former became enraged at the invasion of their privacy. "How dare you spy on us."

"I did no such thing, another ghost happened upon you two and felt that was important information to provide me," Vlad scoffed. "I could care less what Daniel's sidekicks get up to, but you've provided me enough information to discount you two as important, please," Vlad said as the vehicle pulled to a stop. "get out and next time wipe your feet before you step into someone else's car you heathens."

Sam and Tucker quickly got out of the limousine and waved rude hand gestures at the billionaire who drove off. "Oh son of bitch," Sam screamed. "He dropped us off halfway across town, we're going to be super late to school now, that jerk," she roared as she stormed off.

* * *

Vlad laughed evilly at the mild inconvenience he sat upon the two annoying teens, he thought on what they had told him and assumed they were telling the truth because teenagers are notoriously bad liars and it was just like a normal teen to get lazy and complacent as soon as the dust began to settle. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. He scrolled down the list of names and paused at Fenton, his finger hovered over Jack's number, the urge to use that oafs friendliness as a means to pry information out of him was being fought by knowing that he had set the ball rolling with the feds and had to do everything above board.

He pressed down on a name and held the device to his head and after three rings the line picked up and a voice on the other end spoke.

"Hello, this is Jasmine Fenton, who may I ask is calling," Jazz said on her end of the call.

Vlad sighed, "Jasmine, it's Vlad." Pausing to allow the young woman to yell and scream at him, general threats and such. After a minute of that he interrupted. "Yes, all well and good, I'm not sure where you learned such language, but this is actually important. Your parents caught Daniel."

"Caught Danny doing what," Jazz said sarcastically, Vlad could picture her rolling her eyes at him.

"No Jasmine, they _caught _him," he stressed the word caught to ensure the meaning was understood.

"Oh no, and well how did they take it when he revealed himself," Jazz said nervously.

"I do not believe he had the chance to do so, not before they began working on him," Vlad said as firmly as he could, trying to keep emotion out of his voice.

"Oh my god, what did they, how is he, where is he," Jazz started rapid firing questions at Vlad who could hear her voice breaking as concern for her brother overwhelmed her.

"Jasmine, Jasmine, he's, getting better. He is currently resting in my home and if you would like I can arrange for you to be here tonight to see him," Vlad admitting to what part he has played so far in this situation while offering her an olive branch.

"I'll be at the airport in one hour, I have to tell my teachers I'm leaving for a few days," Jazz said frantically as sounds of her packing in the background.

"I will have a ticket ready for you when you arrive," Vlad informed her as he had his driver pull up to city hall. Stepping out of the vehicle Vlad nodded to his driver. "Jasmine, do not worry too much, he has received the best care money and threats can buy and he is being watched over by "friends"."

"You let Tucker and Sam have free run of your mansion," Jazz scoffed.

Vlad strode the building with purpose taking folders and reports from staff members. "No, I said friends, not those two miscreants," Vlad darkly answered. "He seems to be liked by the ghost community more than he realized. And when he's awake they may be the only people he trusts from now on."

Leaving the conversation at that awkward end, Vlad hung up and began going through the normal daily paperwork. Around midday he strode out of his office and informed his secretary he was leaving for the rest of the day. He crossed the street to a parking garage where he kept a personal vehicle in the event he did not feel like waiting on a chauffeur. He started the car but did not pull out, slumping his head onto the steering wheel as the week's events weighed heavily on him.

After taking a moment to compose himself, he pulled out onto the main road, he drove in relative silence, with only the sound of traffic to accompany him when he saw a sign appear on the corner, quickly making a decision he pulled off the street. "Welcome to Nasty Burger, home of the Nasty Burger, may I take your order." Vlad sighed as he placed an order for some artery clogging junk food, the cost was negligible, but he hadn't eaten anything that wasn't prepared by a chef in years.

Arriving back at his manor he moved through the building delivering instructions to his staff for what to finish up and what to get started on in the morning, before secluding himself in the east wing. Swiftly walking down the hall to get to the room Daniel was in to check on his condition. He froze when he stepped into the room as Desiree and Daniel jumped and pulled away from each other. "Well, I'm sure you have much to tell me Little Badger," Vlad smiled evilly as he found a source of enjoyment for the day.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **First off, for those that like this, my update schedule is sporadic at best and many times I'll put a story on hold for a few months as I either settle down into other work or constantly rewrite chapters.

On that note, this is one of a few Danny Phantom Stories I have ideas for. Some I may get to, others I won't. That's life.


	3. Chapter 3

Danny groggily woke up, his body feeling like he had bruises all over. Flickering his eyes he heard the sound of medical equipment beeping. Groaning as he started to sit up, he looked around the room and found it not to be his parent's basement lab. "Where am I?" he quietly asked.

"Oh Danny," Desire cheered as she flew over to him. "You're awake, how do you feel my beloved," she gently held his arm.

"Like crap, wait, beloved?" he questioned the choice of word to describe him.

"Damn you Vlad Masters," Desiree shouted to the sky before turned and speaking to Danny in a much softer tone. "Vlad has wished that when you awoke, I would confess my feelings to you, so he wished it and so it shall be," Desiree resigned herself. "I think I love you Daniel Fenton, of all the men and women who have made wishes over the last 5000 years, you are one of the few who learned not to abuse my powers or abuse me, you are a man of conviction and power and I am attracted to that," she said as she dragged her finger along his bare chest, that was exposed when the sheet fell lower. "So I am wondering if you would have me as yours," she requested.

Danny blinked for a moment processing the information. "So like my girlfriend," he asked for clarification, to which the beautiful genie nodded. "I would uh, be honored, delighted, yes," Danny stumbled over his words. "So uh, what exactly happened to me," he asked.

"Well, some of this is what Ember has told me, but it would seem that Skulker of all people rescued you from your parent's torture and took you to Vlad who has spent the last few days and a not insignificant sum of money and favors to keep you from becoming a full ghost," Desiree explained.

Danny lay back on the bed. "Wow, so that's, wow," he whispered as he tried to comprehend what he was told. "I don't even know where to begin."

"How about like this," Desiree huskily said as she settled her voluptuous body on Daniels and locked her lips to his. Her eyes filled with mirth as Danny moaned into the kiss, his hands slowly rising to wrap around her waist keeping her pinned to him. Taking the initiative, she slowly rubbed her chest against his. "Mmm, yes, like that," she shuddered as she felt Danny gently massage her hips, his hands creeping ever lower.

"Oh ho, what's this," Vlad said as he entered the room, causing the new couple to panic and disengage from one another.

"V-Vlad," Danny shouted in shock as he pulled the sheet up over his chest. Vlad frowned when he saw that while the flesh had healed, there were still clear signs of the damage inflicted on his body.

"So, Daniel, I have something for you," Vlad he said as he crossed the room and handed the teen the bag of Nasty Burger. "I figured you would be famished and with your distinct lack of culture wouldn't wish to dine on what my chefs normally serve me."

Danny quickly tore off the wrapper of a nasty burger and wolfed it down, now that he thought about it, he was starving. Vlad inspected the equipment next to Daniel's bed. "Hmm, your vitals are within normal ranges, but we won't know how your ghost half has recovered until you are well enough to transform," he said as he turned back to Daniel. "Let me take those nodes off of you," he said as he pulled the chords away from Daniel's body. Sitting down in the chair as Danny ate his third burger. "So, tell me, how did they catch you," Vlad asked.

Looking down in shame, Danny silently started to explain. "I got careless," he admitted. "I was just going for a fly at night, helps clear my head so I can sleep, and they got me in the back," he looked at the wall, not wanting to make eye contact. "I don't know what they used, but it really messed me up and when I woke up they had me strapped to the examination table," he voice warbled as emotion bit at his frayed nerves.

"I-I couldn't even talk, no matter how much I tried," Danny hiccupped as he remembered his fruitless cries for mercy. "When they cut into me, I couldn't, couldn't even scream. Everything hurt, so much," Danny pulled his legs to his chest. "I tried to turn back into my human form, I don't know if I succeeded or not."

"Daniel, Little Badger," Vlad said comfortingly. "When Ember brought me to you, you weren't in your ghost form," he informed Danny.

"So they might have," Danny realized what that implied.

"We don't know," Vlad quickly cut off Daniel as he stood up. "I will leave you two alone." Vlad nodded to Desiree as he left, to which she floated over to comfort Danny. "But I will soon enough," he growled as he fell through his floor into his lab.

* * *

Once in his lab he went over to a secure computer and pulled up the information that Technus was able to acquire.

"As much as I hate the oaf, no one could make meticulous notes like Jack could," Vlad said as he started going through the "autopsy" report for Daniel. As he read down the report on the various organs they removed, bile building in his throat as he imagined Daniel strapped to a table when they cut him open. He dropped his coffee mug when he read a section of notes that truly horrified him.

"_Ghosts are seemingly capable of pretending to feel pain, but after a time of no success with begging and faking screams of agony, they move onto pretending to lose consciousness and imitate the appearance of a loved one."_

"Oh Christ," Vlad muttered as he shut off the monitor, not able to stand looking at the line. Knowing that the worst-case scenario was true, Daniel had in fact reverted to his human form at some point, but what made it even worse was the Fentons never once stopped the procedure that he was feeling the entire time. He grabbed a trashcan and emptied the contents of his stomach into the receptacle.

"Geez that bad," Ember said as she turned herself visible, having been quietly watching Vlad read for a few minutes.

"Worse," Vlad wiped his mouth. "Because Daniel is still so young, an older ghost would have been better able to handle the torture, at least physically."

"So how's Babypop doing," she asked as she started to read from the monitor she turned back on. "Oh sick, that's." she gagged as she read parts of what Jack had written. "You going to try and tell me this guy isn't some kind of serial killer?"

"No, Jack is a man of science," Vlad shook off his intense anger feeling it to be a waste of time and energy. "On a less sickening note, Desiree and Daniel are making great strides in their newfound relationship."

"Rock on," Ember cheered. "Lame-O the Friendly Ghost is a pretty decent guy when you get to know him, and my girlfriend could really use someone like him."

"I agree, the two seem to be hitting it off." Vlad said, happy to have a distraction from what he had read.

"Gonna be kind of awkward to fight the kid after all this," Ember admitted.

Vlad chuckled. "I do not think heroics are going to be in Daniel's near future, he still has much to recover from."

"Not just physically either," Ember guessed. "Well that's some shit," she leaned back as she floated.

The phone rang next to Vlad's desk, "Yes, good," he paused as he listened to the voice on the other line. "Send her straight to his room, thank you."

"Hmm?" Ember hummed.

"Daniel's sister Jasmine is here."

"Oh the hot red head, yeah," Ember smirked as she recalled Baby Pop's sibling.

* * *

"Danny," Jazz shouted as she burst into the room.

"Oh come on," Danny groaned as the intrusion startled Desiree into getting off his lap and ending their makeout session.

"Daniel Fenton," Jazz stated indignantly. "Why did I get a call from _Vlad_ of all people that you were captured," she asked as she hurried over to her brother's side. "What did they do to you?" she said, her tone soft and caring as she saw all the equipment that surrounded her brother.

Danny slowly lowered the sheets exposing his bare chest to his sister so she could see the scars. Instead of a noise of disgust Jazz tightly wrapped her brother in a hug. "I'm so sorry, I should have been there for you," she whimpered.

"It's not your fault, I got careless," Danny said comfortingly trying to take the blame.

"It's not your fault either Danny," Jazz firmly snarled. "Mom and Dad had no right to, to, to do this to you, gosh, they didn't even have proof ghosts existed until you turned on the portal and the first thing they do when they capture one is to start cutting it open," Jazz said her voice rising in volume as she worked herself up. "It's wrong, they want to be scientists, but they shouldn't take cues from Mengele."

"It's not that bad, really Vlad and Desiree, they put me back together," Danny said as he reached his hand out for Desiree to take it.

"And this," Jazz saw their two hands touching.

"We're trying something new," Danny said nervously.

"Fine, Desiree can I talk to you outside for just a second," Jazz said sweetly.

"Sure I do not see an issue with this," Desiree responded as she floated out the door with Jazz shutting the door. "We'll just be a moment, girl talk, you know," she chuckled.

"No, I don't, not a girl," Danny shouted at the closed doors.

Jazz quickly got close to the wishing ghost as soon as the doors had shut. "Listen here and listen good," Jazz pointed a finger into Desiree's face. "I swear if you are doing this to hurt him, I will not stop until you are gone, do I make myself clear."

"I understand, your brother is a good man," Desiree folded her arms in defiance. "I have no intentions of doing him harm."

For a moment Jazz said nothing but instead studied Desiree's features looking for a flinch or any sign that she was being untruthful, but the many millennia old ghost did not react. "Fine," Jazz growled. "Now tell me, what he's not," Jazz demanded.

"Unfortunately, I merely saw the damage, I am not aware of the details surrounding it," Desiree answered honestly. "But he was missing quite a few of his organs and was barely clinging on to life and death."

* * *

Danny sighed as he sat in the bed. He noticed the room didn't even have a television, looking around he tried to see if he could find his cellphone or anything he could use to contact the outside world. He nearly jumped out of the bed when he heard a voice from behind him.

"Well, well, well," Skulker said as he floated into Danny's line of sight. "My favorite prey, and too weak to protect himself," his mechanical suit smiling at him.

"Hey Skulker," Danny said weakly as he watched the hunter circle him.

"Aww too tired to escape," Skulker laughed.

"Yeah," Danny sighed, he couldn't move much of his body, due to it being so sore.

Skulker's smile fell. "You know, you're really taking the fun out of this," he pouted as he sat in one of the chairs.

"Sorry, I'll use my time recovering to come up with some insults for next time, how's that sound?" Danny joked.

The hunter smirked. "Better," he replied before sitting silently.

"Skulker," Danny softly called out. The ghost looking over to him. "Thanks," Danny said. "You didn't have to help me. Would have been really easy to skin me there."

Skulker folded his hands. "Kid, you're young, and while I might want to hang your pelt sometimes, I'm a hunter, at the very least I wouldn't make you suffer, not like that," Skulker explained.

"So not friends," Danny quirked an eyebrow at the ghost.

"Yeah, not friends," Skulker chuckled. "Although with you dating one of my girlfriends' girlfriends, I can't exactly kill you anymore."

"Maybe," Danny snickered. "But I don't think I'll be thwarting any ghosts any time soon. So uh," Danny licked his lips. "What's been going on the last few days without me there?"

Leaning back Skulker closed his eyes. "Obviously Ember, Vlad, Desiree and myself have been preoccupied, Technus helped out once he was made an offer, the Box Ghost has been mostly messing around with people at the mall, and everyone else hasn't really done much."

"Wow, that's crazy," Danny realized. "So without me there, none of the other ghosts are bothering to attack."

"Ehh, it's not fun if you aren't there," Skulker admitted.

"Then I should just quit then, save everyone the trouble? No Danny Phantom, no attacks," Danny reasoned.

"No," Skulker shouted. "I just said it wasn't fun for me, most of the stronger ghosts just move slower than the rest, they'll still attack with or without you."

"I don't get it," Danny sighed as he felt this conversation going above his head.

"Look, let me put it into perspective, ghosts like Ember, Poindexter or me, we used to be people, we were alive at some point," Skulker started to explain. "So we do things because we want to, some of it's a compulsion of being dead, but we're mostly in control of ourselves. Some other ghosts, the ones that have always been in the ghost zone, they don't."

"Honestly, some of them scare me," Skulker admitted. "Undergrowth, Nocturn, they aren't like us, they aren't just more powerful, but they think and act completely different to anything on Earth. I used to be a hunter," Skulker continued. "I know, big shock there, but I've seen lioness hunt in packs. I've watched crocodiles wait for hours for food. I've seen it all, but these creatures, they don't behave like anything that's ever been alive."

"I still don't get it, why are you telling me this," Danny said as he sat up on his elbows.

"Us normal ghosts don't want to take over the world, we couldn't even if we wanted to really," Skulker answered. "Some of the more powerful ghosts would step in and stop us if we tried, gotta keep the balance and all that," Skulker said jokingly. "But some of these things, deep in the Ghost Zone, they will and not even someone like Clockwork could stop them. What I'm trying to say is, you are special whelp, somehow you stopped these things, be it an accident or a fluke. We hold grudges because you stopped us, but these things, they didn't care, it was like, ugh, I can't even describe it, once you got out of their line of site they just, reset or something."

"So what you're saying is that I can't just quit being a hero," Danny concluded.

"Yeah, I might be dead, but Earth was my home, I'd like to see it not because a wasteland of death and carnage," Skulker laughed weakly. "You just get better though, I'll tone it down a bit, you've got enough problems without me hunting you." The hunter turned intangible as he flew out of the room, leaving Daniel to contemplate what the conversation.

* * *

It was a few minutes later that the door opened and Jasmine entered the room. "Danny," she said as she sat next to her brother.

"Where's uh, Desiree," Danny asked as he didn't see his new girlfriend come back.

"She's giving me a bit of alone time with you," Jasmine answered. "Now, I know you don't want to hear this."

"Nooooo," Danny said slowly as he realized what was going to happen.

"Since you are at that age," Jasmine continued unphased by Danny's reluctance.

"No no no," Danny cried out as he squirmed and tried to get out of the bed but was still too weak to do so.

"Just because Desiree is a ghost, doesn't mean you can forgo protection," Jasmine said as she pulled out a book from her bag.

"Someone, please, kill the rest of me so I don't have to do this," Danny shouted to the heavens.


	4. Chapter 4

"Okay Daniel, whenever you are ready," Vlad nodded as he, Jasmine and Desiree watched with baited breath to see how Daniel's transformation would go. "If you start to hurt, just stop, don't push yourself, that could be a sign of something worse."

"Yeah, yeah," Danny rolled his eyes. "I'm going ghost," he cried out as he formed the rings that would transform him into his ghostself, however this time was slower, more tiring and it did feel uncomfortable to do so. "Hrrg," he grunted with his eyes closed trying to force the transformation through the pain.

"No, stop, Daniel," Vlad called out as he saw the difficulty that the teen was having with changing forms.

"I can keep going," Danny panted as sweat started to drip from his pores.

"Danny, stop, you're hurting yourself," Jazz shouted at her strong willed little brother, who also tended forgo his own safety.

"Just a little more," he said as he felt the rings wavering.

"Beloved, please, no more," Desiree cried out.

Exhaling deeply, Danny let the power slip back into him, as he stumbled forward. "Did I, do it," he asked as he looked around the room.

"No, it would seem that you are still too unstable to fully manifest your ghost half," Vlad sighed.

"Dammit," Danny swore as he slammed his hands onto the tile cracking the stone. His human side had seemingly recovered completely over the last couple of days and most of his powers had returned but he still wasn't able to go ghost.

"Do not fret beloved," Desiree said calmingly as she floated next to him and gently rubbed his back. "It will just take time," she whispered as she lifted up his chin only to see tear streaks. "Why does this bother you so?"

"It's like I'm missing a part of me," Danny sighed. "I'm not whole, even if you complete me," he teased.

"Oh you are incorrigible," Desiree giggled as she kissed him gently. The kiss slowly growing more passionate before Jazz coughed into her hand.

"Still here little bro," she said as she awkardly looked away from the couple.

Vlad clapped his hands. "All well and good, but you do need to return to school sometime, unless you plan to retake the year," Vlad asked.

"Well," Danny slowly stood up. "It _has _been almost a week," he shrugged. "Who knows how much homework the teachers will have waiting for me." he laughed it his joke as he picked up his backpack, already knowing that he would need to return to school that day after Vlad cleared his human half.

"As for your absences," Vlad said as he pulled out a form. "I sent a letter to your principal stating there was an accident in your parent's lab and that you would be out of school for an indeterminate amount of time, which is technically the truth. You will just need to hand her this to confirm it."

"Technically, the best kind of anything," Danny laughed as he took the form from Vlad.

"Now this will also get you out of gym, so that you do not have to display your scars to the rest of the school," Vlad continued unabated. "However you will need to speak to your school nurse, should your powers start to act up," Vlad said with emphasis. "You will have an excuse to go see the nurse and then call me."

"Sure Vlad," Danny nodded as he took a deep breath. "Well, I'm off to school," he chuckled as he started out the door before coming back in. "I uh, walking would make me super late and I can't exactly fly right now, could one of you maybe give me a lift."

The older people in the room sighed before Jazz started to walk Danny out the door. "I'm borrowing one of your cars Vlad," she called out as she took the keys to an expensive European sports car.

Vlad turned to Desiree who was whistling to herself. "You're planning on spying on him all day, aren't you," he asked.

"Of course, I'm just giving them a head start," Desiree answered.

"And you still won't grant that wish of mine?" Vlad inquired.

"Nope," Desiree smirked. Utterly delighted that Danny had wished away that part of her curse. It really showed how much trust he had in her that she wouldn't abuse being able to choose which wishes to grant now.

"Gah fine," Vlad threw his hands in the air as he stormed off, knowing now he would have to hire someone to do what he wanted.

* * *

Danny held onto the grab handle as Jazz cackled loudly flying around the corner to stop the very fast vehicle in front of the school. "You-you-you kn-know ju-ju-just becau-cause, I am l-l-late," Danny stuttered as he fell out of the car and onto the sweet, safe, non-moving ground. "And half dead," he said as he started to compose himself. "Doesn't mean you have to get me there on time," he glared at his smug older sister.

"I have always wanted to drive one of these," Jazz giggled. "Shame that Vlad is going to get a bunch of tickets for all those red lights I ran, but I was going, two _hundred_," she cheered loudly.

"That's my top speed when I'm flying," Danny commented. "You want to know the difference? I'm not dodging traffic," he shouted at his sister.

"Bye Danny, I love you," Jazz said loudly to her brother and stood grinning as she watched his brothers frustrations die.

Sighing Danny walked back over to his sister. "I love you too Jazz," he said as he hugged her tightly.

"If you have any trouble, seriously, call me," Jazz said as she looked her brother in the eyes.

"I will Jazz," Danny said as hurried into the school just after the bell rang.

* * *

Danny headed straight to the principal's office, ignoring that classes were beginning and he'd be late, he needed to drop off the note Vlad gave him. "Principal Ishiyama," Danny said as he knocked on her open door, she had been having a meeting with Vice Principal Lancer, who surprisingly didn't have to sub for a class that day. "I needed to give you this note," he said as he passed her the slip of paper.

"Dr. Xiangtsu-on MDMS," she questioned.

"I had an accident a couple of weeks ago and," Danny nervously rubbed his arm. "This guy's pretty good, had to be flown in all the way from China to fix me up," he honestly praised the surgeon's talent as not many people could or would be able to help keep a halfa like him alive while he was missing most of his internal organs.

The two adults just looked at the teen for a moment. "I'll need to go to the nurse so she knows about the injuries," Danny added on. "But I might have some issues in class, I'll try not to be disruptive."

"Daniel, walk with me," Lancer nodded to his boss as he started to walk the troubled student down the hall to the nurse's office. "What happened, you disappeared for a few days and then we get a call from the Mayor saying there had been an accident and you wouldn't be coming in for quite some time."

"I promise, I'm better now, it was just a mistake in the lab," Danny said, lying to himself more than Lancer as he didn't want to confront how he felt about his parents at the moment.

"Alright Daniel," Lancer said dropping the subject as he tried to get a feel for if this was another one of Daniel's strange habits, he could only tell there was something more to the story, but he knew he wasn't in a position to inquire further.

After explaining some of the situation to the nurse, she kindly asked for Daniel to specify where the injuries occurred so she might know what to do in case of an emergency. Danny nervously pointed to his chest to answer her question.

"Goodness," the nurse exclaimed. "Your heart, were you electrocuted?" she asked further, concerned that Daniel could have a heart attack on school grounds.

"No," Danny sighed as he took off his t-shirt, revealing the patchwork of scars on his chest.

Lancer swallowed the vomit that shot up into his mouth as he noticed the massive crosswork, but something about the way the scars looked reminded him of something but he couldn't remember what it was, but he knew it couldn't be good.

"We-well, you will certainly be excused from p.e.," the nurse chuckled as she tried to not look at what she could easily identify as the precision cuts used during an autopsy. "Do take it easy, any pain at all and you come right here," she instructed as she gently led the teen out the door. As soon as she saw him walking down the hall she turned to the vice-principal. "Do you know what those were," she hissed furiously.

"No, but I think I should, something about them is familiar," Lancer admitted.

"Think back to those biology classes you subbed for," the nurse reminded him.

"Wait, biology class, yeah the frogs," he remembered. "Oh no, he was dissected?! How is _that_, an accident!" Lancer pointed angrily at the door.

"I don't know," the nurse said. "I always thought the Fenton's were weird but, I don't know what to think now."

"I'll keep an eye on him today," Lancer promised as he left the nurse to fill out her notes on this situation.

After Lancer left the room, the nurse picked up the phone, she had a responsibility to report any and all suspected child abuse, and if the wounds on Daniel's body weren't a red flag, then she was colorblind. "Hello, Amity Park Police Department, I need to report an incident with a student," she said into the receiver.

* * *

Danny shuffled down the hall to his fist class. "This is going to be awkward he realized as he hadn't seen or heard from his friends in days. As he looked into the classroom before opening the door he could see that Sam and Tucker looked awful. Their hair was a mess, they looked as if they hadn't slept in days and they were constantly looking up at the sky for signs of a ghost. Slowly he turned the knob and entered the room, the teacher stopping the lesson to see which student was late. The class however reacted differently to Daniel's presence. Sam and Tucker bowled over their classmates to get to him.

"Dude, where have you been, you went missing for over a week," Tucker shouted as he felt Danny's arms and legs to make sure it was him.

"Oh my god, would it have killed you to call or something, we have been looking everywhere for you," Sam sobbed as she hugged Danny tightly to her.

Danny looked at his two friends. "Sorry, there was an accident in my parents lab and I had to spend time recovering at my Uncle Vlad's," he said with a nod.

"Well you are still late Mr. Fenton, do you happen to have a pass," the teacher asked.

Blushing Danny remembered he forgot to ask for one. "Sorry, I forgot to get one."

"I'm his pass," Lancer said as he entered the room. "We need to have a quick meeting," he said as he pulled the teacher out of the classroom. He had done this for all of Daniel's teachers to make sure at least in his classes he wouldn't have issues until they could have a meeting later in the day.

While the teachers were talking in the halls, Danny was led to the back of the room by his friends. "Dude, where did you go?" Tucker whispered.

"Vlad's," Danny answered.

"He caught you," Sam gasped.

"No, he helped me, I was in really bad shape," Danny answered.

"Ghost attack, Skulker finally get some new gadget that worked," Tucker asked as he readied his PDA to take notes.

"Actually Skulker saved me, my parents got me," Danny said as his voice quivered. "They, they didn't listen," he said as he choked back a sob.

"Hah, Fenturd is crying," Dash said loudly as he started to laugh at Danny as he and a few others had eavesdropped on the conversation, curious as to why one of their classmates was missing for so long.

"Oh I wish you would shut up," Sam screeched in anger.

"So you have wished it, so it shall be," Desiree smirked as she revealed herself to the room.

Suddenly Dash was completely unable to make sound as he pointed and silently screamed about the ghost.

"Desiree," Sam gasped as she looked to Danny to see what he would do.

"Hey Desiree," Danny said as he wiped his cheeks. "I'm a mess," he said quietly.

"You just need time," Desiree responded softly as she floated over to him. "It's going to be hard to understand everything you are feeling right now, and you should not be ashamed of showing your emotions," she advised as she gently wiped a tear from his eye..

"Yeah, you're right," Danny smirked. "So are you just going to follow me all day or?"

"I don't see why not," Desiree smiled as she disappeared from sight.

"What the hell was that," Tucker shouted as he waved his hands at where Desiree had been.

"It's complicated," Danny chuckled as he already felt better by letting out some of his emotions.

"Children," Lancer said as he stuck his head in the room to quiet the class down. "Please."

After the teacher came back in the other students were unsure of how to explain what happened, so the teacher just dismissed their ramblings. "Oh Mr. Baxter I can see you are practicing miming, an odd choice, but I once knew a mime, he was my brother, great mime, hated the man," the teacher rambled on. The rest of the day Dash would keep trying to get someone to take his lack of voice seriously, to no avail.

* * *

"Dude, okay, it's lunch," Tucker said as the group sat on the bleachers having their meal, outside and away from any other listeners. "Spill, what happened?"

"I got caught by my parents and they did an autopsy on me," Danny answered as he lifted up his shirt.

"Oh I'm going to be sick," Sam said as she covered her mouth.

"Me too, also that's kind of sick," Tucker concurred with his friend after he looked away from the scars.

"Well they took most of my organs out," Danny continued. "I guess I got lucky that Skulker was feeling merciful that day," he shrugged. "He took me back to the ghost zone and Ember went to get Vlad, it was touch and go for a while, at least that's what they say. But I'm alive, can't exactly change right now," Danny said as he looked up to the sky.

"Okay, that explains where you've been," Sam slowly absorbed the information her crush told her. "Now what about Desiree?"

"Well, we're dating," Danny happily said.

"WHAT?!" the other two exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, I was shocked she liked me too, she is way out of my league," Danny laughed.

"Considering you are one of two half ghosts, I'd say I got lucky," Desiree sighed as she appeared floating above Danny, playing with his hair. "There are other ghosts, many of whom are quite beautiful in their own right."

"But they aren't you Desiree," Danny smiled as he tilted his head up to look at his girlfriend.

"This is weird," Tucker said as he looked at the couple being cute, he was happy for his bro, but him dating a ghost was so strange after fighting them for so long.

"You'll need to fix Dash though," Danny said as he hugged Desiree who sat in his lap.

"Aww, do I have to, he was mocking you for expressing your feelings," Desiree pouted.

"Yeah, but you don't have to do it right away," he said with a smirk. "I wish that at some point today you would give Dash the ability to speak again."

"So you have wished it, so it shall be," Desiree hummed as she snapped her fingers. "I'm thinking, midnight," she mused as she leaned into the crook of Danny's neck.

"That's nice," Danny said softly as he waited out the rest of the lunch period holding onto Desiree.

* * *

"You know," Tucker started as he walked to the gym with Sam. Danny stayed behind on the bleacher with Desiree for a while longer, informing his friends that he had a pass out of p.e. For a while because of his scars. "They are pretty cute together," he smiled that his friend was having good things start to happen to him.

"It's obviously a trick," Sam huffed in annoyance

"Oh that's just because you've had a crush on him for so long and waited too long to tell him," Tucker rolled his eyes at the girl he was fooling around with. "I know we aren't dating and this is just to destress from all the ghost hunting. But you can't do this to yourself, you know that."

"Ugh, it's so hard, he's just so oblivious," Sam kicked a ball that had rolled her way, it bounced off Dash's head as he couldn't get anyone to help him due to not being able to call plays during the weird game the teacher had come up with.

"Well it's too late, you know Danny's not the guy who's going to two-time anyone," Tucker shrugged as he ducked under a throw.

"Obviously Tucker," Sam hissed. "I'm not going to be the other woman in this situation. I'll just wait until Danny sees what she's really like," she said as she didn't expect the other ghost to give up her conquest to take over the world just for Danny so easily.

* * *

Danny closed his eyes as he sat with Desiree in his arms. To avoid suspicion she had turned herself invisible so that no one would notice he was seated with a ghost. "So what is the plan for after your school is let out?" she asked.

"I, I don't know," Danny answered as he wasn't sure if he should go home, or if he could even go home after all that he suffered.

"I'm certain that Vlad would allow you to remain with him," Desiree said. "And if not there is always my domain you could reside in, it's quite nice, all it's been missing is a nice stud to warm the bed," she purred as she raked her nails along his back, sending shivers down his spine.

"That's _very_ tempting Desiree," Danny sighed. "But I have to go home, I have to face my parents. I think it's time to reveal myself, maybe get some answers."

"Whatever happens, I will be there for you," Desiree promised as she held on to him tightly.

"I love you Desiree," Danny whispered as he hugged her for comfort and security. She had been his rock through these last few days, keeping him from losing his mind.

"Is this not a little fast?" Desiree asked.

"I think it's just right," Danny smiled where he figured her face was. Leaning forward he planted a kiss on an exposed part of her body, he had been aiming for a cheek or maybe her neck.

"Beloved that was my breast you just kissed," Desiree raised an invisible eyebrow.

"Oh," Danny squeaked as he realized he had missed by quite a wide margin.

He felt her shift in his arms and wrap hers around his torso. "If you want to play those games," she said coyly. "We can, just say the words and we'll be out of here in an instant."

Gulping Danny rolled his head to the side to not show how fiery red his cheeks were. "I think, if I did that, I would have more to explain to my parents than just the ghost powers, like how I'm a father," he said nervously.

"A bold claim," Desiree chortled. "We'll have to test it some day."

The ringing of the bell was a savior to Danny as he was not sure how much longer he could hold out and keep from giving into his desires. "Time for my last class of the day, then," he said as he earlier thoughts returned. "Home."

"I will be with you for every moment, beloved," Desiree promised as she floated along with Danny through his last class.

* * *

When Danny stepped out of the school, after reassuring Tucker and Sam that he was going to go home and talk to his parents and maybe have the big reveal, he said he'd call them later tonight and if they didn't get that call to go to Vlad for help. While they were unsure, they still decided to listen to their friend's wishes about how he handled the situation with his family.

"Danny over here," Jazz called out to Danny from next to the same four wheeled death machine from the morning. Danny passed by all the onlookers who were oohing and awwing at the expensive vehicle.

After getting seating into the passenger seat. Jazz waited a moment for her little brother to collect himself. "So, how was today?" she asked hopefully.

"It wasn't bad, Desiree being with me really helped a lot," Danny said as he reached over and took her hand as she turned visible once again.

"That's really sweet. Now where am I taking you?" she asked, knowing that it could one of any number of places.

"I think you know where we have to go Jazz, home," Danny sighed as he buckled up.

"Dammit," Jazz swore under her breath, hoping it would be a little bit longer before he was wanting to confront their parents.

When they arrived at Fenton Works, instead of clear streets the building was surrounded by police and other clearly government vehicles. "Oh no," Jazz said as she and Danny stepped out of the vehicle to watch as their mom and dad were dragged out of the home in handcuffs.


End file.
